MIIS Students, Alumni Participate in Course Taught by MIIS Professor in Former Spanish Royal Palace

Interpretation practicum participants joined MIIS Professor Cas Schulman-Mora at a former Spanish royal palace in Santander, Spain.

August 29, 2013

For three consecutive summers, Spanish Translation and Interpretation Professor Cas Shulman-Mora has taught and directed the International Conference Interpretation Practicum at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo in Santander, Spain. She is always searching for ways to combine her professional activities with training opportunities for students in the Spanish Translation and Interpretation Program.

This year, alumna Arielle Weisman (MATI ’11) joined Professor Shulman-Mora as her teaching assistant for the second time, and among participants was a large contingent of current Monterey Institute students and alumni: Susan Piñón (MACI ’99), Laura Merino (MACI ’11), Katerina Borghi (MATI ’14) and Miguel García (MACI ’14).

During the two-week course, the Monterey Institute students and graduates worked alongside Spaniards recently graduated from interpretation programs at local universities, along with professional interpreters from Belgium and Romania, interpreting in mute booths at live conferences held at a seaside Spanish conference center.

Apart from the professional training and exposure to conferences on a variety of topics such as smart cities, psychology, immigration policy and how to write a crime novel, the course offered a great opportunity for networking with other interpretation professionals working in Europe. The camaraderie and conference materials are certainly a great benefit, but it also helps that the course involves living and working in a former Spanish Royal Palace on the scenic Northern coast of Spain.